From one world to another
Chapter 8

The rest of the night was a blast! When we got back to town, Princess Luna was actively participating with the other ponies, playing games and even scaring a couple of them. The rest of us meanwhile settled down and enjoyed the night, sharing food and drinks and telling stories. Of course, since I wasn’t from this time period, I had to change my stories to some degree and leave out some of them completely. Luckily, while I was talking to the guards, I found out about the perfect cover. The undiscovered west.

It was perfect for my cover stories. A place filled with local tribes, some isolated Equestrian settlements, and tons of ancient ruins, filled in between with bandits and monsters both known and not. The best part was that ponies rarely went there, and the part of it I chose has never been explored by Equestrian ponies.

Even so, I told as few stories as possible. I didn’t want them to doubt or question anything. Not only that, but I felt bad for lying to them.

I was listening to Glancing talk about one time where his squad took out a hydra, when we were interrupted.

“Excuse me Littlepip, can I talk to you for a minute?”

“Um, sure?”

With that, Luna led me away from the confused guards and past the crowds, heading back towards the nightmare moon statue.

Luna’s pov

‘So it is her.’ I thought as I finished my spell. I had been searching the entire night for the pony who was having the nightmares, secretly casting the searching spell on various ponies as the party went on.

That didn’t mean I wasn’t having fun of course. Once the ponies accepted me, I had tons of fun. I even managed to prank the element of loyalty for pranking me earlier. Even so, I kept a careful watch, scanning ponies that I hadn’t yet.

Eventually, I saw Littlepip, who was surprisingly talking to my commander and the escorts I brought with me. Seeing this brought a small smile to my face. Thestrals often had an even harder time associating with other ponies and becoming friends, mostly due to the fact that many connect them with Nightmare Moon. So seeing this, I had asked her to follow me. I had originally wanted to thank her for helping me and the guards, but then a thought came to mind. When she was distracted, I cast the spell on her and was surprised to see it come back positive. I hadn’t thought that she would be the one afflicted with nightmares, but as I looked closer I could see something.

Even though she was a happy pony and quite lively, I could see a look in her eyes, one that came with seeing something that no mortal should ever see. She actually reminded me of some of the soldiers from the Griffin wars from before I was banished. Not only that, but there was some odd magical aurora around her, one that felt like it shouldn’t be here. I was confused by this and intended to investigate further. By the time we arrived at the statue, I knew that I could help.

Littlepip’s pov

“Hey Princess Luna, what did you want to talk to me about?” I ask as we arrive at the statue.

“I wanted to talk to you about a few things, one of which is to thank you. Not only did you accept me and my guards, but supported us where most were hesitate, even wearing the armor of the old guard.”

I was both surprised and happy at this. “It’s no problem princess.”

“Thank you, now I wanted to talk to you about why I came here tonight. While I did come here to help situate myself into more modern society and make ponies fear me less, those were only some of my reasons. In addition to being the princess of the night and co-leader of Equestria, I am also the guardian of the dream realm. This means that it is my duty to help any slumbering ponies with nightmares, whether it’s dealing with the problem directly or guide them.

Recently, I have discovered a nightmare that I have rarely seen, one that took me days to find instead of the normal timeframe of a few minutes. Even so, their mental defense kept me from entering their dreams and helping them, forcing me to come here and search myself. That mare is you Littlepip, isn’t it?”

I remain frozen for a couple of minutes, my mind processing what she just said. I soon start to panic as the gravity of the situation finally shows. How much does she know? What will her reaction be when she finds out!?! As I internally panic, I catch her looking at me out of the corner of my eye, a concerned expression on her face. Finally, I calm and compose myself enough to respond.

“Yes.”

I catch a glimpse of surprise on her face before it disappears.

“Would you like to talk about it?”

“I’m not sure…”

“If that’s the case, then what about a dream spell? I can temporarily put both of us to sleep and enter your mind, then we can work on the problem from there.”

“Are you sure? This will scare you for life.”

A moment of hesitation appears on her face, likely due to how certain I was. None the less, she insists.

“Ok then, your choice. So, how does the spell work?”

“Normally I’d just cast a sleeping spell on you and then enter your dreams from the dream realm, but your mind acts differently. It has a very strong mental defense, a fortress of sorts. It’s why I didn’t originally enter and instead talked to you about it in person.”

“Going into ponies’ dreams unannounced? Nice Luna.” I say with a smirk as she slightly blushes and stammers a bit.

“A-anyway, since the mental defense is there, I need to cast a spell in person. It will basically ask for access past your defense. When it happens, you can accept or deny the request. Once this is all done, we shall commence the discussion further in your dreams. Are you ready, dear Littlepip?”

“As ready as I’ll ever be.”

“Excellent! I’ll cast the spell now.” With that, Luna started concentrating, a glow starting to develope from her horn. Instead of shining brighter like other spells however, as aurora itself started expanding. Then, part of it reached out toward me, connecting to my own horn. As it did, I felt a presence in my mind, almost asking me something. Chuckling, I mentally say ‘access granted’. Suddenly, Luna’s horn glows slightly brighter as the aurora size returned to normal, signalling a switch between spells.

Before I knew what was happening, I felt greatly tired and almost fell asleep standing, darkness consuming my vision like a blanket.

Luna’s pov

‘So this is Littlepip’s mind? Interesting.’ I thought after I enter her mind. Before me was a giant metal wall, hundreds if not thousands of filing cabinets all along the wall. Here and there, I could see symbols or contraptions I couldn’t understand, but I paid them little mind as I continued towards my destination. Soon I reach the entrance to her dreams, a giant metal door with the number 2 on it. Undaunted, I use my magic on the door. Instead of normally opening however, several previously unseen mechanisms on the door went to work, slowly separating the door into two halves as they slide apparent.

I took a step back as I felt the presence of Littlepip’s nightmare flow out the door, a feeling that would make most ponies run making itself known. Steeling myself, I gallop through the door...

...right into a battlefield.

I was in some sort of town, the buildings around me rough looking and burning. All around me, the all familiar cries of battle rang around me, along with the not so familiar *bangs* and *booms*. I quickly reminded myself that this was just a dream and gathered my magic, teleporting to where Littlepip was. When I saw her, my jaw dropped.

She was cornered against a building, surrounded by dozens of shadow creatures as they marched towards her, shrieks of darkness echoing from them as they stepped over the corpses of ponies in an unidentifiable uniform. Even so, Littlepip appeared to be winning, striking down one with her sword only to fell three more with some sort of ‘boom stick’ attached to a saddle. While ponies can manipulate their dreams and do things they normally couldn’t do, they were usually stuck to their real life limitations in most dreams, unless they found out where they actually were. When I cast a quick spell, I saw that while Littlepip was aware that this was a dream, she wasn’t boosting herself in anyway.

Noticing a group that was approaching her undetected, I decided to let myself into the fight. Magically donning my armor and conjuring my Lunar katanas, I sent a blast of magic at the group, incinerating them instantly while drawing the attention of several more. Landing on the ground, I dodged a lunge from one of them while slashing at another, causing it to dissipate. I then whipped around and impaled the previous creature on one of my katanas. Hearing the beat of multiple hoofs, I turn to the left and see a group of five shadows heading toward me. Smirking, I fire off a series of energy bolts at the group before charging. The bolts themselves hit two of them, while two others parried my katanas with their own blades. Quickly thinking, I jumped back, dodging a downwards strike from one of the shadows before lunging forward with both of my katanas stretched outward, hitting both the shadow and the one behind it. As they died, I then turned my attention to the final one, only to notice that it already died.

“Thanks for the help, princess.” Hearing this, I turn and see Littlepip approach me, a smile on her face. I reveal my own small smile and was about to respond before I hear a loud boom. Looking in shock, I see a burst of blood come out of the right side of her. Two more booms sounded, and Littlepip dropped, the body and blood becoming one of a shadow’s before disappearing.

Thought: ‘H-how was I not able to tell the difference!?!’

Looking at where the booms came from, I saw another Littlepip walking forward, glaring at the spot where the previous one had been, a small frown on her face. As I watched her, I barely heard her mumble something. “Didn’t know that they could do that.”

“Littlepip?”

When I say her name, she turns toward me, her concern replaced by relief. “Princess Luna, sorry you had to see that.”

“It’s alright Littlepip. I’ve seen my fair share of death and conflict, although I must ask. What were those? More so, where are we?”

“I’m actually not too sure what those were. I’ve never seen them before. As for where we are, I think we’re in the Hub.”

“I’m sorry Littlepip, but I’ve never heard of this ‘Hub’. Mind telling me where it is.”

“It’s to complicated to explain, and we probably I probably don’t have enough time to tell you all of it in this dream.”

“If that’s the case, then I can cast a memory spell here and see the story instead of hear it.”

Littlepip looked shocked at this. “Are you sure? I mean, it’s much worse than this, and I’m not sure that you can take it.”

I only smirk at this. “Trust me Littlepip, I think that I can ‘take it’ as you say.”

This response made Littlepip sigh and rub her face. “Very well, don’t say I didn’t warn you.” With that, I started the spell and put my subconscious into Littlepip’s memories. At first it was dark, but then memories soon started coming forth from her childhood. I was confused as to why it was all in a metal bunker of sorts and never showed the outside, as well as these mentions of ‘the great war’, ‘stable-tec’, and ‘the ministry mares’.

As the memories continued flashing by, Littlepip grew older and older, earning her cutie mark and working in some sort of mechanic’s room. Then, the memories shifted and soon...went...outside.

The surface was a desolate wasteland, radiation scorching the earth as the world laid in ruins. Ponyville itself was a bloody mess, profanity and corpses displayed everywhere as bandits fought against Littlepip. I tried to exit out of the spell, but it kept me locked in, making me watch everything.

Ponykind reduced to banditry and scrap houses.

The horrible nature behind the bunkers similar to Littlepip’s.

Slavery now running abundant throughout the wasteland

Mutated creatures abundantly killing ponies, both good and bad.

Some sort of Alicorn, soldier of a goddess, killing ponies left and right.

Entire cities now skeletons of their former selves, the bones of millions in the streets and homes.

Former remnants of the military fighting against a slaver empire while they themselves prey on the innocents.

Canterlot covered in some horrible mist, everypony dead or some sort of hellish abomination.

My own bones being worn by one of the alicorns, fighting against Littlepip for some sort of ‘black book.’

Great metal airships and legions of pegasi warriors, descending from the sky.

Twilight’s dragon, spike, all grown up and guarding a bearerless elements of harmony.

A final war.

Celestia, dead and trapped in some mechanical abomination.

Peace.

As the memories stopped flowing and the spell ended, I collapsed onto the ground, shaking with shock and horror. Is this Equestria’s future? To have friendship and harmony descend into war and chaos. All at the hooves of me!

“Princess Luna?”

What am I going to do? Should I dare tell tia of this. Can I tell her?

“Luna!”

The world’s going to end, and I can’t d-

“LUNA!”

The shout startled me from my thoughts, causing me to yelp and fly back a ways, only to look back and see Littlepip watching me, a concerned and sympathetic expression on her face.

“Are you alright Luna?”

“N-no Littlepip. I a-am very scared and confused. If what your memories show are true, then the world will soon descend into an apocalypse.”

“Don’t worry Luna. Maybe with this knowledge, we can prevent this from happening.”

This caused me to pause in my thoughts. We still had plenty of time, we can stop this from happening. “Yes. Yes, yes, YES! We can keep Equestria safe!” I practically shouted with glee for the next few minutes, thinking of how I could stop this. Littlepip also got caught up in the positive mood and had a big smile on her face. This continued until a certain thought and magical aurora put a halt to that.

“Wait a second. Littlepip, do you mind if I can cast a spell on you?”

Littlepip’s happy demeanor drops a little as she looks at me, confused and slightly surprised at the request and the sudden change of attitude. “Um, sure?” With permission granted, I cast the scanning spell as I look for a specific magical trace. After a few minutes, I find it much to my surprise. It was a magic that I had only sensed a few times before, and they usually involved Discord or the magic mirror. Dimension magic.

“It looks like Equestria is safe after all.” At the questioning look from Littlepip, I explain further. “I’ve discovered a magical trace on you that can only be found outside of this universe, dimensional magic. It naturally fills the void between universes and helps form the barriers between that void and a universe. When something travels through the void, it leaves a magical trace on them for up to weeks after they enter a new dimension.

This means that the Equestria you came from wasn’t a future one, but an alternate one. I can’t tell where or when it deviated from this one, but let me assure you that this one is safe.”

This seemed to be a massive relief for Littlepip, as she proceeds to sit down with a smile on her face.

‘Our time here is done.’ I thought as I used my magic to bring us out of the dream realm and wake us up.

Littlepip’s pov

“Well that was certainly something.” I say as we get ready to leave. I was just woken back up after showing Luna my nightmares and memories, then learning myself that I wasn’t from the future, but from an alternate reality. I didn’t even know what to think of that, but at least this Equestria is likely safe from that threat. I just hope that it won’t complicate getting home.

“It shouldn’t.” Luna says as we start walking, making me realize that I said the last bit out loud. However, I didn’t dwell on it long as Luna continues talking. “The difficult part would’ve been finding your home dimension, but seeing as how I managed to analyze the dimensional magic on you and store some, getting home should be much easier. Chances are that it shall take a few months at most, barring any problems we come across of course. Also, when you return I’d like to establish a connection between our worlds so that we may be able to provide some supplies to help, things like water, food, seeds, materials, medicine and such. We can work out the details in the future.”

This brings my hopes up tremendously. I could actually go home! It’ll be a couple of months but it is possible. Not only that, but more supplies will tremendously help the NCR and other ponies back home, since we lacked the samples or infrastructure to have many of these resources.

“On another note, I’d like to make a proposition to you.” She then stops, with me following shortly as she explains. “I have seen that you are a pretty good fighter and keep your morals straight and pure, which is a feat that many find hard to do, especially with experience so intense as your own. It just so happens that their is an opening in the Night’s watch, and I’d like to invite you to be a temporary member of it. Of course, you’ll have to be tested and trained before you fully join, but I believe that you can be a member within a month. It will offer you housing, food, water, and care, and the pay is twelve bits an hour, plus certain bonuses. The option is yours of course, and I won’t push it if you decline.”

I thought long and hard about this. On one hoof, it would likely bring me back into fighting and possibly lead to more knowing about my story. Plus, I’m not sure how the NCR congress will react once I return home.

On the other hoof however, it could greatly help me improve my skills and condition, something that had been slightly decreasing since I was usually cooped up in the S.P.P pod. I’d also have a secure home and income during my stay, and I’d get to help Equestria stay safe. Finally, I’d get to see the friends I made more often.

“Princess Luna.” I say, stretching out my hoof. “You have a deal.”

Author's Note

Well, that's all for this Chapter! I don't have anything to say, except for that this will laregly deviate from the main storyline in Ponyville now, at least for a while. So, with that said and done, I'll end this note off.

Stay determined folks!